Reflecting the shift in U.S. military priorities, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (Darpa) fiscal 2012 budget request moves funds to new cyber, energy, medical and wireless communications technology programs. Darpa’s request for $2.98 billion is slightly down from the $3.01 billion sought in fiscal 2011, and several programs are terminated or reduced to free up funds for the new research initiatives.
AIR FORCE The Boeing Co. was awarded a $23,127,911 contract modification which will procure various test assets and hardware for aircraft integration efforts for the F-16 Block 40/50, F-22, F-35, and the Small Diameter Bomb Increment I programs. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. AAC/EBMK, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. is the contracting activity (FA8672-11-C-0034 PO0005). NAVY
NEW DELHI — As air traffic growth in India puts pressure on available airspace, the country’s unmanned aerial vehicle industry is calling for a centralized body to draft regulations and set standards for UAV systems. “Though currently in India it isn’t a major issue, in the next five to six years as smaller systems take to the sky, we will need regulation similar to [that] being drafted in the U.S. by the FAA,” says Avdhesh Khaitan, CEO of Kadet Defense Systems.
Several major U.S. military space projects are being threatened by the lack of action by Congress to approve a federal budget for fiscal 2011, which began in October, according to senior Air Force officials.
ARMY Oshkosh Corp., Oshkosh, Wis., was awarded a $101,920,000 firm-fixed-price indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract on Feb. 7, 2011. The award will provide for 2,080 underbody improvement kits to support the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected All-Terrain Vehicle. The work will be performed in Oshkosh, with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2012. Five bids were solicited with five bids received. The U.S. Army TACOM LCMC, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-09-D-0111).
LONDON — Saab is hoping that efforts to streamline operations will boost earnings margins this year as the Swedish aerospace and defense company confronts declining sales.
The U.S. Navy plans to change the airframe of the Northrop Grumman MQ-8 Fire Scout unmanned helicopter to extend endurance and payload to meet an urgent special operations requirement for a sea-based medium-range surveillance platform. Funds are requested in fiscal 2012 to buy the first 12 MQ-8Cs, based on the Bell 407 commercial helicopter rather than the smaller Schweizer (now Sikorsky) S-333 on which the MQ-8B is based.
As the U.S. government and Lockheed Martin continue restructuring the $382 billion, multinational F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, the parties are preparing for negotiations on the next production lot and to reset the original development contract in light of a recent cost overrun and delay. Lockheed Martin is expected to submit its proposal for the fifth low-rate, initial production (LRIP) lot of F-35s to the government in the next couple of weeks, kicking off another round of negotiations.
SINGAPORE and BEIJING — Japan is planning to issue a request for proposals (RFP) in March for new fighter aircraft under its F-X program. The country plans to order about 50 aircraft to replace its fleet of McDonnell Douglas F-4EJs. Industry executives say the defense ministry is working to get the RFP out next month so there will be enough time to evaluate proposals from vendors and come to a decision this calendar year.
Amid a heated debate about federal deficits, national security and domestic employment, the U.S. House of Representatives voted against continuing the General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter midday Feb. 16.
The Russian military will deploy advanced air defenses and other reinforcements to the Kuril Islands just north of Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido, according to a new report out of Russia. The weaponry will include the S-400 Triumf, according to RIA Novosti (the Russian International News Agency), quoting an unnamed high-ranking Russian General Staff official.
BENGALURU, India — BrahMos Aerospace chief A. Sivathanu Pillai says the joint Indian-Russian BrahMos supersonic cruise missile has “a firm order book of $10 billion for the next 10 years,” including weapons for both India and Russia.
Alternative ways of providing night-vision capability in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, at least initially, are being considered because of performance issues with the aircraft’s helmet-mounted display (HMD). Developed by Rockwell Collins and Elbit Systems’ joint venture, Vision Systems International (VSI), the visor-projected HMD is performing adequately in daylight flights but falling short of requirements in night-vision mode, says U.S. Navy Vice Adm. David Venlet, head of the JSF Joint Program Office (JPO).
BOTTOM LINE: U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is warning lawmakers that the Pentagon needs at least $540 billion in baseline funding for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, but that he knows it is unlikely the Defense Department will receive the full $549 billion it requested for fiscal 2011. The federal government, including the Defense Department, has been funded by an extension of 2010 appropriations since fiscal 2011 began Oct. 1, 2010.
Restructuring of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program dominates the U.S. Defense Department’s fiscal 2012 aircraft procurement plans, but disguises several adjustments as the Pentagon tries to reinvest savings in modernization. The U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps all see cuts following the Pentagon’s decision to reduce F-35 procurement by 124 aircraft over the fiscal 2012-16 future years defense plan (FYDP), in part to pay for a $4.6 billion increase in development costs.
PARIS — Additional charges and provisions for overruns on several big programs, including the Airbus Military A400M airlifter, drove down profits at Thales last year. However, orders were better than expected and the company now feels it has removed the uncertainties on the affected projects, positioning the company for a return to profitability.
CAPE CANAVERAL — Efforts to update infrastructure at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., to accommodate a mix of commercial and government rockets is off to a slow start under the Obama administration’s $18.7 billion spending plan for NASA for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. The Florida spaceport would receive $128 million to kick off its 21st Century Launch Complex program and a total of $470 million over five years, the president’s new budget shows. Obama last year requested $500 million in 2012 and $1.9 billion over five years for the project.
The U.S. Defense Department has increased its baseline fiscal 2012 operations and maintenance (O&M) request by about $1 billion, as well as shifted $19 billion from the shrinking overseas contingency operations (OCO) account into the baseline account. According to budget documents released Feb. 14, the $295.2 billion requested in O&M funding for 2012 includes a baseline budget request of $204.4 billion and an OCO request of $90.8 billion.
The U.S. Navy sees its SSBN(X) ballistic missile submarine replacement fleet basically as an improved model of the current SSBN boats leveraging Virginia-class sub advancements and refined construction methods. “The initial plan is for 16 tubes, a new-design reactor plant, [and] similar antennas and design to the Trident- and Virginia-class submarine,” Rear Adm. Joe Mulloy, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for budget, said Feb. 14 during his briefing on the service’s fiscal 2012 budget proposal.
BENGALURU, India — The Indian air force (IAF) has begun preparations to form the first Tejas Light Combat Aircraft squadron here. The No. 45 Sqdn. will be known as the Flying Daggers (the same as MiG-21/MiG-21BIS squadron). Air Cmdr. B.R. Krishna, chief test pilot at the Aircraft Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE), tells Aviation Week that ASTE has identified two pilots to fly the Tejas as part of the IAF’s user evaluation, following the initial operational clearance (IOC) granted on Jan. 10.
HOUSTON — An installation-by-installation look at the proposed 2012 NASA budget reveals that Johnson Space Center in Houston is perched high atop the financial pyramid, where it can expect to manage nearly $5 billion, or just more than 25%, of the agency’s spending. Most of the Texas funding, nearly $3.3 billion, will go for space operations to sustain the International Space Station, the human activity that seems to have the greatest domestic bipartisan as well as global backing; the tail end of shuttle operations; and some commercial support.
